Moving On
by Gravenwrath
Summary: Bothered by tragic events of the past, both Zexion and Kairi attend the same college. Bad summary. ZexionxKairi eventually. Please R&R! No Flames! ABANDONED! Sorry, haven't had the time :
1. Kairi

Okay, this is my first fic. The whole Zexion x Kairi thing was the result of some interesting fanart I saw on Deviantart. Please R&R No flames, please!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

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Chapter One -- Kairi

Kairi sat up in the bed with a small scream. She had had another nightmare. Trembling violently, she looked around the room. Nobody was there and everything was quiet. She was alone. Kairi felt tears coming to her eyes. _Oh, man, why again?_

The dream was one Kairi had been having for a year now. What was worse was that a year ago, the dream had been a horrible reality.

One year after the defeat of Organization XIII and their leader, Xemnas, Kairi, along with with her boyfriend, Sora, and close friend, Riku, had been contacted by Cloud Strife. He had been fighting Sephiroth when the Dark Angel had recieved help from another person; a person wielding a keyblade. Cloud didn't know much about keyblade warriors and their power so he had asked Sora, Kairi, and Riku for help.

Naturally, all three had agreed to help their friend and travelled to the town of Kalm, where Cloud had fought Sephiroth and the mysterious warrior. There, they had found Cloud, Tifa, a friend of Cloud's named Vincent, and Sephiroth with his keyblade warrior ally. The keyblade warrior introduced himself as Orondrin, a renegade who had been trapped in an enchanted sleep for a thousand years. Sephiroth had awakened him.

Sora, Kairi, and Riku had engaged Orondrin while Cloud and his allies fought Sephiroth. With Orondrin now busy and unable to help him, Sephiroth fell at the hands of Cloud, vanishing from sight, hopefully forever. Orondrin saw Sephiroth fall and quickly disappeared. Sora and his friends pursued the renegade and finally, on a desloate plain a week's journey north of Hollow Bastion, Sora confronted Orondrin. It was there that Kairi had watched as Sora had died.

The first thing Orondrin had done was summon a number of vicious heartless to keep a couple of the keyblade warriors busy. Since Sora was the best of the three keyblade warriors, he had engaged Orondrin. For close to an hour, the two had fought, Sora in his Final Form, and Orondrin in some dark form that was unfamiliar to the three friends. Kairi had just broken through a line of heartless when she saw Sora glide by, shooting toward a taunting Orondrin. One heartless caught sight of Sora and gave a half-hearted jump at him. The weak attack distracted Sora for a split second. That was all Orondrin had needed. With lightning speed, renegade keyblade warrior had shot forward and driven his keyblade right into Sora's chest.

Kairi had screamed as she saw Sora go rigid. Riku had already leapt at Orondrin, pure fury in his eyes. As Orondrin looked at the attacking youth, Sora had driven the Ultima Keyblade into Orondrin's own chest. Impaled on each other's swords, the two had fallen to the ground. The wild dark magic in Orondrin decimated the twisted warrior immediately. Charred ashes were all that remained of him. Sora lingered, however, just long enough to give Kairi an adoring final look before he vanished in a shower of sparks. Beside the spot where he had lain, Kairi had wept.

It was the death of Sora that Kairi had been dreaming about. How the colour had drained from his face, how he had gone so horribly stiff and rigid, how the light in his eyes had slowly begun to fade. She dreamt about his fall, his final, loving look at her, and his death.

Sora had been honoured like a king, with a grand memorial erected at the site of his death. A smaller shrine had been built where he, Kairi, and Riku had always played when they were younger. Shortly after that, however, Riku had left, going off to travel alone and deal with his own grief. Cloud's friends Aerith and Tifa had tried to help Kairi, but for the first month or so, she was inconsolable. She cried a lot and stopped visiting the island where Sora's shrine was. It was around this time that the nightmares of his death had begun.

Kairi at first thought that they would pass with time, that the pain would eventually heal. She was wrong. Whenever it felt like the pain was leaving, she would be visited by the nightmares. She sought help from Aerith, Tifa, and even Yuffie, but none of them could help her. Kairi began to loose sleep and her health deteriorated. Finally, Kairi's parents, in an attempt to help her move on, had arranged for her to go back to school in Midgar, another city in Cloud's world. The doctor who had been assessing Kairi's condition had felt that it might help and had encouraged Kairi to write home often about how she was feeling and her health. Ravaged by the pain of Sora's death and the continual nightmares, Kairi had agreed.

Kairi lay back on her pillow, staring up at the blank ceiling. After a few minutes, she felt the tightness in her stomach lessen. She got up and wrapped her stick-thin body in a housecoat and when to get a drink for her dry throat.

She was at the sink when she glanced at the clock and started. 1:24 a.m. Today she would be heading off to Midgar Academy for a three-year course in english, literature, and history. She was naturally good at both english and literature, but history had been her own choice. If her parents had found out why she had chosen the subject, Kairi doubted that they would have let her take it. She had chosen the subject with the hope of one day narrowing it down to a particular field: the history of keyblade warriors. She hoped she could find some way to bring Sora back, or at least be able to talk with him once more. She knew that she was being stupid, but she didn't care. She _needed_ to see him again, or at least try, no matter how hopeless her search probably was.

Kairi finished taking a drink and started to head back to her room. As she walked back, she heard a noise behind her. She gave a startled gasp as someone grabbed her and turned her around. She found herself face to face with Riku.

"Riku!" she gasped, pulling away and trying to calm her beating heart, "What are you doing here? Where have you been?"

Riku had not changed much. He still wore his silver hair long and he still had that moody, pensive look about him. His clothes were different though. As if still mourning Sora, Riku wore dark leather armour. He looked at Kairi with an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry I scared you, but I didn't want your parents to wake up. I just arrived back here and I wanted to see you before I left again."

"Your going to leave again?" Kairi asked, trying desparately to sort through her thoughts. _Why is he here now, in the middle of the night?_ "Where have you been? Where are you _going_? I haven't seen you for a year and now you suddenly turn up in the middle of the night just to tell me you're going away again?!" Kairi was growing angry. Riku looked even more apologetic.

"I'm on a job Kairi." he said, softly, "I'm working for Leon right now." Kairi started. Leon was a close friend of Cloud's, but when she had seen Cloud yesterday, he hadn't mentioned anything about Riku. _Maybe he didn't know. _

"I'm confused." Kairi said. She walked into the living room and sat down on the couch after turning on some lights and dimming them so as to not wake up her parents. "What have you been doing?"

"Looking for anyone who had been involved with Orondrin."

For a second time, Kairi started. It was the last answered she had expected, but in looking back, she realized that she should have seen this coming. Of course Riku would try to deal with Sora's death by finding anyone else who could have been involved. She, Kairi, should have stopped him.

"Riku . . ." Kairi began, reaching over and placing her hand on his arm, "why didn't you tell me, or anyone, for that matter? Why did you just have to run off like that with hardly an explanation?"

"I told Cloud and Leon." Riku said, "Cloud thought that Orondrin, because of his power, might have had a cult following in Kalm. I went to Kalm to investigate and found traces of some sort of group that had something to do with Orondrin, so I followed the trail. It doesn't matter now, though. I found out recently that the group had committed mass suicide following Orondrin's death."

"Why are you leaving again, then?" Kairi asked. Riku looked down.

"I can't stay." he muttered, "The pain is too sharp the closer I am to Destiny Islands. The farther away that I am, the better. Fighting evil keeps me busy. I don't have to dwell on the past."

"But it won't make the pain go away." Kairi argued, "You have to move on with your life." She stopped, surprised at herself. Those were the words the doctor had spoken to her the same day that he and her parents had decided to send her back to school. _Look what I plan on doing when I reach school. Saying something like that only shows what a hypocrite I am._ Kairi took a breath to steady herself.

"If you can find peace, Kairi, then I'm happy for you." Riku said, looking at her in earnest, "But for me, the only way I can find peace is by keeping myself busy. Fighting heartless, fighting Maleficent, fighting _anybody_, so long as I'm fighting against evil, I am, relatively speaking, happy."

"So you're leaving again?" Kairi asked. Riku nodded.

"What have you been doing?" he asked. His words brought a strange reaction. Kairi started. _What have I been doing? Crying mostly. Moping around perhaps._

"I'm going to school in Midgar, today in fact." she said. Riku looked surprised, then somewhat pleased.

"You're moving on, Kairi." he said, "It's more than can be said for me, but maybe that's because of all the time I spent in the darkness. I'm happy for you." Riku rose and Kairi rose with him.

"You're leaving, already?" she asked, "You've only been here for ten minutes! Can't you stay?" Riku shook his head ruefully.

"Like I said, I'm on a job and I don't really have time." Riku said, "I did want to see how you were doing, though. I also want to see the shrine. Maybe it will help, maybe not, but I have to see it." Kairi came forward and gave Riku a hug.

"I'm glad you came, Riku." she said, kissing him on the cheek. Riku hugged her back.

"Bye, Kairi." he said. With that, Riku left, disappearing into the darkness outside.

For another hour, Kairi sat in the living room, deep in thought. Of everything Riku had said, one thing stuck with her: "What have you been doing?" _What had she been doing? She had been sitting around, mourning Sora's death. Nothing had changed that over the last year. _Kairi looked up as a new thought came to her. _Is this what Sora would want? Would he want me to be miserable? Of course not! _Kairi could almost hear Sora telling her to move on, not to mourn him anymore. Kairi smiled to herself. _Oh, Sora, I'm sorry. I've been acting like a total fool. My heart was broken when you died, but maybe time can mend that, if I give time a chance and not mope around continually._ With that, Kairi headed back off to her room. She noticed that the pain seemed to have lessened after that.

----

Kairi was up at eight the next morning, getting ready to head off to Midgar Academy. Kairi was neat by nature and had already packed most of her belongings. A few things only remained. Kairi paused with a picture of Sora in her hands. After a minute, she placed it back on the dresser. _If I'm going to get over this, I'd better not bring that picture to constantly remind me of his death._ She did keep a small picture of him in her purse, however.

"Oh, for the love of Pete!" an angry voice sounded from out of the dining room. Kairi started at the angry voice of her father. She left quickly to find out what was wrong.

Her father, a tall man with shaggy dark brown hair, was sitting at the dining room table. There was a cup of half-finished coffee beside him and an untouched plate of bacon and eggs. Kairi's father, however, was staring at a letter that had just come in the mail.

"What's wrong?" Kairi's mother, a beautiful woman with auburn hair, asked from the kitchen.

"It's this letter from the Midgar Academy." he responded, "It reads: "Due to a construction incident, the Midgar Academy has been deemed temporarily unsafe. All students who were to attend the academy will instead be heading to the Balamb Garden Academy!" I knew that something like this would happen."

"Balamb Garden Academy?" Kairi's mother asked, looking at the letter, "Isn't that a military school?"

"There was an incident a while back." Kairi's father replied, angrily eating his bacon, "I think you're friend Leon was involved somehow." He nodded at Kairi, "Anyway, after all the trouble was over, the academy was slowly transformed into more of an academic centre. They still have some military programs I believe."

"Well, there's no major problem." Kairi's mother said reasonably, "It's only a little farther away. We'll leave at eleven instead of twelve."

"That's not the point." Kairi's father responded, "Why was there an accident in the first place. Haven't they been able to fix Midgar up from that Bahamut attack?"

"The place is still unstable and workers are limited." Kairi said, joining the conversation. Kairi's father looked at her.

"Then they shouldn't have opened the academy in the first place." he argued, "What if at you're first dance, a chandelier falls on you're head?!" The idea was so comical that Kairi laughed. Her father started and her mother gave a small gasp.

"What?" Kairi asked, a little unnerved.

"You laughed!" her father said, staring at her like she had just sprouted wings, "I haven't heard you laugh since . . . " he broke off. Kairi's mother was beaming as she came around and gave Kairi a hug.

"My baby," she said, hugging Kairi tight, "this is a good sign." she said to Kairi's father.

"Mom, I can't breathe." Kairi said. Her mother let go.

"Well, maybe the Balamb Academy won't be so bad." Kairi's father said. Kairi's laugh seemed to have dulled his desire to argue about the unstability of the Midgar school.

"I'll be alright." Kairi said, smiling at her parents, who beamed back.

A couple hours later, Kairi and her parents were in the car heading toward Twilight Town, where Kairi would board the train for Balamb. Kairi sat in the back, looking out the window at the endless fields and plains, thinking of Sora. Sora had driven her out here occasionally. They would sit on the roof of the car and watch the stars come out. Sometimes, Riku would come with them. It was in these fields that Sora had first confessed that he loved Kairi. The thought of his confession brought tears to her bright blue eyes.

_The pain isn't totally gone._ She thought, _But I don't think that it will ever totally go away._

----

Twilight Town was bustling with activity. All the students who were going to school elsewhere had come to the train station in Twilight Town. A large number of these students were signing up for the train to Balamb, having, like Kairi, been relocated. Trains were already filling up with students and several were already leaving. Kairi's father went to get in line at the ticketmaster's booth to get Kairi a ticket. Kairi's mother got caught up in a conversation with a friend she had just spotted. Kairi stood there patiently, waiting.

"Hey, Kairi!" someone yelled. Kairi looked around and her face broke into a smile as she spotted Hayner, Pence, and Olette. The three friends lived in Twilight Town and had helped Sora and Kairi enter the World That Never Was to confront Xemnas.

"Hey." Kairi said by way of greeting as the three ran up to her.

"How've you been?" Olette asked, looking slightly concerned. Hayner, Pence, and Olette had all heard of Sora's death and had been at the funeral. Kairi gave them a smile.

"Better than I have been." she said, "I saw Riku last night. He helped me somewhat." Olette smiled.

"So where are you going to school?" Hayner asked, "Not Midgar I hope, I heard that they have been having some trouble keeping the school standing. All the students from Midgar are being rerouted to Balamb." Kairi nodded.

"That's where I'm headed." she said. Hayner and Pence high-fived each other.

"Perfect!" Pence said, "That's where we're going! It going to be friggin' crowded though, what with all the Midgar students coming there."

"Are they all coming to Balamb?" Kairi asked, "I thought they may have spread them out a bit among several schools. I know that Balamb is only one of several Garden academies in that area."

"Balamb is big enough." Hayner replied, "I guess that the school is usually half-empty anyway." Just then, Kairi's father walked up with her ticket.

"Here you go, sweetheart." he said, "I want to you to be careful and don't hang around with any riffraff. Send us regular e-mails about how you're doing and how you have been."

"Don't be afraid to call either, dear." Kairi's mother said, walking up and giving her a kiss. Kairi smiled and hugged her mother and father.

"I'll be careful." she said. With that she headed off with Hayner, Pence, and Olette toward the train.

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There: first chapter done. Please tell me what you think. I know this chapter was all about Kairi, next chapter is about Zexion.


	2. Zexion

Here's chapter two. Please R&R

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Final Fantasy games sob

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Chapter Two -- Zexion

In one of the many alleys of Midgar sat a young man, sullenly smoking a cigarette. He paid no attention to the other homeless people around him, or to the other people walking on the sidewalks. Dark bluish hair concealed almost half of his face and gave him an engimatic appearance.

Zexion finished the cigarette and threw it and the empty box away toward a dumpster. They fell just short, but Zexion made no attempt to pick them up. _This whole town's already so trashed that I don't know why they are even trying to fix it._ He rose and stretched. He had been sitting in the alley for almost two hours now, just sitting there and smoking. He didn't have much else to do. Usually, the former member of Organization XIII just wandered around town, performing odd tasks for a small amount of money.

Putting his leather jacket back on, Zexion headed out into the crowded streets. He walked quickly, not caring where he was going. It was almost night, the last light of the sun disappearing on the horizon. The streetlights all came on, or at least the ones that were working. The streets begant to empty. When the streetlights came on, it was a sort of warning in Midgar: it wouldn't be long before bandits were out to prey on those unlucky enough to be caught still outside. Zexion decided to head for Seventh Heaven, a bar that was run by a friend of Squall's. He would be able to stay there for the night. The bartender was a friendly and pretty young lady, a few years older than Zexion and she was always willing to give Zexion a bed, by virtue of his having been an informant for Squall.

Just over a year ago the governing body of Midgar had been split into two factions, each vying for total power. The Shin'ra Faction was run by Rufus Shin'ra, who wanted to help rebuild the city. Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart had been helping him with that goal. The other faction was the Desrain Faction, a new power company that competed with Shin'ra. The Desrain president wanted to restore power to the town using the techniques that Shin'ra had used some four years earlier that had caused so much trouble. They had even employed the power of SOLDIER to help them achieve their goals, despite the warnings given to Desrain by Rufus Shin'ra.

Zexion had been approached by Squall after an incident where Zexion had been attacked by two SOLDIERs. Squall had taken him to the Seventh Heaven bar where Zexion had recovered. Squall then enlisted his help to find other SOLDIERs who needed to be brought to justice. Feeling obligated, Zexion had agreed to become one of Squall's many informants. This had been a year ago and for six months Zexion worked as an informant. Finally, Squall's friend Cloud was able to expose the evil of Desrain to the people and the company was overthrown. Shin'ra ruled Midgar. After he was no longer needed, Zexion had joined the ranks of the homeless, despite the urging from Squall to stay. Zexion preferred to be alone however, making just enough money to buy food and cigarettes. Cloud and Squall had told him that if he had ever needed a place to stay, the Seventh Heaven was open to him.

As he thought about this, Zexion snorted. _I don't see why they like me so much. _A scream brought Zexion out of his thoughts and back into the present. He turned and looked to where the scream had come from. A small girl was standing in the middle of the street and a truck was heading right for her, its horn blaring. The girl seemed to be paralyzed with fright, though, and was not moving.

Zexion leapt into the street with the speed and agility of a cat and grabbed the girl a second before the truck hit her. He took her over to the far side of the street and placed her on the sidewalk. As he paused to catch his breath, the girl threw her arms around him in thanks. He pushed her away.

"Don't thank me, kid." Zexion muttered, "I don't deserve it." With that he turned and walked away. _I don't deserve any praise or thanks after what I did._ Zexion's mind flashed back three years.

He had just been defeated by Riku. In an attempt to escape and plan another attack, Zexion had cast a portal that would take him to Castle Oblivion. There, Zexion had run into Axel, Organization XIII's Number 8. With him had been the Riku replica made by Vexen. Axel had allowed the replica to attack Zexion. Zexion still remembered the rage and pain of that moment. Axel had double-crossed the double-crossers, killing Vexen himself. Now he was allowing Vexen's creation to kill Zexion. At the last possible moment, Zexion had created a portal to escape Axel and the replica. The portal had desposited the wounded nobody in the region surrounding the World That Never Was.

For a year, Zexion had to hide in the region, trying to avoid being spotted by Xemnas and Zexion's other former comrades. From what he heard, Marluxia, Laxaeus, and Larxene had all be defeated and it was assumed that he, Zexion, had been killed too. Zexion, however, had recovered from the wound inflicted by Riku's sword. He wouldn't have, if he hadn't been taken in by a small family living in the World That Never Was. The family consisted of a husband, wife, and an energetic little girl, around eight years old. They cared for Zexion and helped him recover. Then, Zexion had left to try and figure out what to do with himself, whether he should surrender himself to Xemnas, or try and start a new life elsewhere.

For a few months, he thought out what to do. He wasn't called the Cloaked Schemer for nothing. Zexion wasn't a great fighter, but when it came to plotted and planning a method of attack, Zexion was the best. He was half the reason that Marluxia had done so well at first in his rebellion against Xemnas, Xigbar, and the others.

Then came the day. The day Zexion heard a massive explosion and saw the center of Kingdom Hearts get blown out by some strange power. He saw the hearts falling. Hearts! Wasn't that what Organization XIII had been formed for in the first place: to get hearts? In a daze, Zexion had hurried over to the area surrounding the World That Never Was. The hearts were falling but as soon as they hit the ground they disappeared and heartless spawned. Zexion cursed, trying to get close enough to pluck a heart from the air. Then he could become whole again . . . He ran up and finally saw a heart he could grab. It was one of the last ones, floating gently down, a little slower than the others. Zexion reached up and grabbed it -- a second before a little girl had tried to grab it.

Zexion looked down shock. He hadn't even seen her come up, but her hand was outstretched, as though see had been trying to grab the heart too. Zexion recognized her as the little girl who belonged to the family that had helped him. Looking up, he saw her parents not too far away, trying desperately to grab one of the last few hearts that were falling. Suddenly, Zexion realized why they lived so unusually close to the city of nobodies. _They_ were nobodies themselves, looking for hearts. Zexion looked down at the girl, not knowing what to say. Her mouth was open in surprise. Then Zexion saw despair fill her eyes. She let out a small cry and before Zexion's eyes transformed into a dusk, the most common type of nobody. Not far away, her parents also surrendered to their despair and agony and became dusk nobodies. Zexion had gasped with horror as they had transformed. Where the little, energetic girl had once stood, was now a souless, almost mindless dusk, swaying gently from side to side. Then it disappeared, along with the other two dusks that had once been the husband and wife who had healed Zexion when he was dying.

The young man now walked down the street in a bitter and melancholy mood. That little girl and her parents must have had a tremendous amount of character for their nobodies to have been essentially replicas of themselves. All of Organization XIII had been made up of powerful nobodies. The lesser nobodies, such as dusk and dragoons, served them. After Zexion had retrieved that heart, his nobody had been joined with his other, a young scientist named Ienzo and the two were made whole again. Zexion, however, had kept his nobody name. He didn't feel whole. He couldn't get over the way the little girl had looked at him after he had stolen her one chance to be whole away.

It was no good telling himself that it wasn't his fault, that he didn't see her. He had told himself that a hundred times over the past two years. It never made a difference. As far as Zexion was concerned, her becoming a dusk was entirely his fault.

Zexion started when he realized that he had reached the Seventh Heaven. He sighed and walked in. Tifa was doing the dishes and Aerith sat close by, talking to Tifa's adopted son, Denzel. With Denzel was Marlene, the daughter of Cloud's friend Barret. Cloud sat in one of the corners, polishing a part of his buster sword. Several patrons sat around the area, talking quietly and sipping various drinks, most of which were alcoholic.

Tifa looked up and saw Zexion walked in. She smiled.

"Hello, Zex." she said cheerfully. Zexion winced inwardly. _Why do they always call me "Zex"? And why are they always cheerful around me. It's like they're trying to make me cheerful._

"Hey." Zexion said, "Do you have a room available?" Tifa smiled and handed Zexion a key.

"How's it going, Zexion." Cloud asked, placing the sword and rag on a table and walking over. Zexion lit a cigarette. Cloud made him slightly nervous. He had seen Cloud fight and it was brutal. Cloud could fight in ways most men would never even dream of attempting. His sword, when fully made, was massive and dealt plenty of damage. Zexion felt sure that even a glancing hit from that huge blade would send him flying and that he would be in no shape to fight back after he landed.

"I'm alright." Zexion said, exhaling some smoke. Cloud nodded. Zexion had never told Cloud, Squall, or any of their friends that he had once been a part of the infamous Organization XIII which had terrorized the worlds for over a year. He had no idea how they would take the news if he ever decided to tell them, something he didn't plan on doing.

"You don't look very well." Aerith said, giving him an appraising look. Zexion shrugged.

"Rough day, I guess." he said although he couldn't really think of anything rough about it. Tifa shook her head.

"You should find a place to settle down." Tifa said, "It's not good for you to just lie around town as a homeless person. You should find a girl and live your life." Zexion shook his head.

"Don't worry about me." he said, hoping that this would change the subject. Tifa, however, wasn't leaving it alone.

"But we do worry about you." she said, firmly, "Leon had plenty of informants during the Desrain incident, but they are all had homes to return to. You were homeless when Leon helped you with those SOLDIERs, and even now, you're still homeless. You were one of our best informants and we are greatly indebted to you. We want to make sure you are alright. You can't just live out of shelters all your life, that's no way for someone to live."

"It's what I deserve." Zexion muttered. Tife shook her head.

"I doubt that." she responded, "You need help and you refuse to help yourself. Therefore, it has fallen on mine and Aerith's shoulders to secure you a future." She finished this statement proudly and Zexion looked up, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. _What are you getting at? _

"What did you do?" he asked, preparing himself for something surprising and unpleasant. Cloud laughed.

"He doesn't trust you, Tifa." he said. Tifa reached down under the counter and brought up a sheaf of papers which she desposited in front of Zexion.

"You have been enrolled in the Balamb Garden Academy." she said, "You'll be studying english, literature, and military sciences!" Zexion was dumbfounded. He stared at the papers in front of him at a complete loss for anything to say.

"I . . . I . . . you . . . " was all that came out of the Cloaked Schemer's mouth.

"It's all be done." Tifa said, "We paid for it and tomorrow, Cloud will take you to the Twilight Town train station to board a train for the academy and I don't want to hear any complaints. You won't take care of yourself, so we need to do it for you!" With that, she reached over and pulled the cigarette out of Zexion's mouth. "And smoking's bad for you." she added as a sort of afterthought, depositing the cigarette in an ashtray.

"Why?" Zexion asked in a strangled voice, "Why can't you just leave me alone and let me do what I want with my life?" Aerith came over and sat beside Zexion.

"Because no matter what you might think of yourself," she said, "you are a good person at heart." Zexion stared at her in disbelief.

"Believe her, Zex." Cloud said, "Aerith's good at looking into people's hearts. If she says your good at heart, then you're good at heart!"

"I shouldn't even have a heart!" Zexion yelled. Tifa, Cloud, and Aerith looked at him in confusion.

"I was a nobody!" Zexion said, "I was one of the top members of Organization XIII! I don't deserve to have friends or be helped in anyway." He hadn't meant to say that, it had just sort of slipped out. The three stared at the miserable young man in shock. Aerith was the first to recover. She put her arm comfortingly around Zexion as he struggled with his violent emotions.

"Tell us what happened." she said. Zexion broke down entirely. He related everything that had happened, how he had helped form Organization XIII, how he had joined Marluxia in attempting to take over the order, how he had been defeated by Riku, and finally, how he had acquired his heart. After he had finished, he sat trying to suppress sobs. He had held his emotions in check for as long as he could remember and finally the strain had been too great. The confession made him feel somewhat better, but he was ready for Cloud or Tifa to throw him out of Seventh Heaven. Neither moved. Finally, Cloud spoke.

"About four years ago," he said, "We were fighting Sephiroth when he badly wounded Aerith. I thought she had died and that it was my fault. When something bad happened, you try and find a way that you could have prevented it. You shouldn't dwell on it like that. You should move on. Aerith helped me realized that it hadn't been my fault she had been hurt. You should also see that it isn't your fault that that little girl became a dusk. You didn't see her. It was unfortunate, but you shouldn't sit around blaming yourself for something you were powerless to prevent." Zexion sat quietly, breathing harshly. After a second, he lit another cigarette.

"It wasn't your fault." Aerith echoed Cloud, "I said that you were a good person at heart and I meant it and still stand by it. We won't shun you or try and arrest you. Any crimes you _have_ committed I think have already been atoned for."

"So you're still going to Balamb." Tifa said in her usual friendly and business-like tone, "No more arguments." A small smile crossed Zexion's face as he shook his head.

"No more arguments." he repeated, "But tell Squall about me, about who I really am. He should know . . . " Tifa nodded.

"It won't matter to him you know." she said.

"He should still know." Zexion said, "I'm not much of a fighter and he helped me with those SOLDIERs." Zexion got up and threw away the cigarette he had been smoking. "I'm heading up to bed. Uh . . . thanks." He finished somewhat awkwardly.

Zexion climbed the stairs of the Seventh Heaven bar and found his room. Tifa always gave him the best room that she had. Zexion hardly noticed that tonight. The Cloaked Schemer was deep in thought. _Why did you lose it like that, Zexion? You've always been so good at hiding your emotions. Today you broke down like a small child! What's wrong with you?_ The answer came immediately. _It's because I have a heart now. Emotions are easy to control when you don't have a heart, but now . . ._ Zexion reached his bed and flopped down on it, looking around and thinking hard. _I'll need to work harder to keep my emotions in check. I can't go and have another outburst like that, especially when I'm at this academy._ With that, Zexion tried to get some sleep.

The next morning, Cloud drove Zexion to Twilight Town. Tifa and Aerith had wished him good luck and Aerith had given him some last minute advice about his emotions, things Zexion hadn't really wanted to hear but for some reason made him feel slightly better. Now he sat on the back of Cloud's motorbike, watching the rocky landscape melt away into green fields with Twilight Town looming in front of them.

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Thanks for reading :)


	3. Events at the Station

Thanks for the reviews :) Chapter Three skips from Zexion to Kairi. As usual, please R&R. (P.S. Thanks for the questions! I'll try to answer some of them in the later chapters :D )

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

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Chapter Three -- Events at the Station

The station was crowded. Students milled all around and Zexion and Cloud had trouble finding a place to park. They finally managed to find a spot several blocks away from the station.

"Is it always this busy in Twilight Town?" Zexion asked. Cloud shrugged.

"I don't come here often." he replied.

Zexion and Cloud climbed off the bike and stepped onto the sidewalk. Cloud pulled out one of his smaller swords and put it in the multi-sword sheath on his back. Zexion stared.

"What are you going to do with that?" he asked. Cloud looked slightly embarrassed.

"These places can be kind of rough." Cloud said, "I learned a while ago not to take chances in cities."

"They're all just kids, though." Zexion argued.

"Which is why I chose one of my smaller swords." Cloud responded. Zexion shook his head and followed Cloud down the sidewalks toward the train station. They passed numerous shops, all of which had huge lines. In the streets, traffic was moving slowly. Zexion wondered why Twilight Town was the only town with a train station around here. Destiny Islands was too far from here, why didn't they have a station? Shaking his head again, the confused and crowded Cloaked Schemer followed Cloud down the street.

After about ten minutes, the two were passing through a sandlot. A tall, muscular guy and a shorter, stockier one were swinging at each other with padded bats. Every time one hit the other, the victim would drop strange-looking orbs which the attacker would hastily scoop up. An electronic scoreboard was keeping the score. It read: Seifer 106 Pence 94. From what Zexion could tell, it looked like Seifer was the tall guy. He looked to be a year or so older than Zexion and was wearing an arrogant and cocky expression. Pence was sweating and looked exhausted. He had the air of someone who rarely did this. Zexion noticed that Cloud looked interested. Cloud tapped a spectator's shoulder.

"What's going on?" Cloud asked.

"It's a Struggle match." the guy said, "There's been some delays with the trains so this is how we're killing time. You're not from around here, are you?" Cloud and Zexion shook their heads. "Each person is given 100 orbs and a struggle bat. When you hit you're opponent, they drop orbs, which you can pick up. The person with the most orbs at the end of the match, wins! Simple, eh?" Cloud thanked him as a buzzer rang. Zexion moved closer and looked up at the score board. Seifer 144 Pence 41. There were still a few orbs littering the ground. Seifer stood in the center of the arena accepting praise from the crowd.

"Simple indeed." Zexion said. He noticed a couple of teenage boys were watching him and something about the expressions on their faces made him uneasy for some reason.

"All right!" Seifer yelled, "Whose next?"

Zexion felt his hand shoot in the air. He looked around in horror and saw the two teenagers holding his arm in a vicegrip. "He'll do it!" one of the teenagers yelled. The other one looked at Zexion. "We heard that guy explaining the match to you. Now you can experience it first hand, loser! We want to see Seifer destroy a different opponent today." Zexion groaned as he silently cursed himself for not being more careful. Had he still been in the Organization, he would never have let down his guard like that, especially after just noticing the teenagers! Silently, he prayed that Seifer would choose another victim. He was wrong. He saw Seifer come over and cast him an appraising look. The Seifer laughed and grabbed him by his shirt.

"Let's do it, wimp!" he said, smiling in a sadistic way. As he was hauled up and over the rope barrier, Zexion caught sight of Cloud's shocked face.

----

Kairi stood with Hayner and Olette, watching Pence fight Seifer. They had been standing in line for the train when it had been announced that there were engine problems and that the rest of the trains couldn't leave for several hours. As a result, the mayor of Twilight Town had decided to quickly set up a Struggle match. Anyone who knew the rules to test themselves against Twilight Town's champion, Seifer. So far he was undefeated and it looked like Pence wouldn't have much luck either.

The match, as Kairi had thought, had ended in Pence's complete defeat. He limped his way back to his friends, grimacing. Hayner shook his head as Pence sat down.

"Man, Pence, I need to teach you a few things." he said, "How to hold your own, for one." Pence glared at him.

"Hey, I entered because you told me to." he said, defensively, "My job is to cheer you one while Seifer is kicking your butt!" Hayner scowled at that, remembering his own failure to bring Seifer down. Kairi and Olette giggled. Pence looked back at the arena.

"Seifer's got another victim." he announced. The other three looked back at the Struggle zone. The first thing Kairi noticed was that this youth looked anything but excited or prepared. Bluish hair concealed almost the entire right side of his face and he was relatively shorter than Seifer. He was looked at the padded bat that had been thrust in his hand with a fair amount of disgust and disbelief. Seifer was laughing at him.

"It was Krail and Hueler." Hayner said, pointing to two youths who were laughing and pointing at the youth in the ring. "They must have "volunteered" him." The youth in the ring glanced back at them and his eyes were shooting daggers. Kairi suddenly noticed someone standing behind most of the crowd. It was Cloud Strife. He was watching the youth in the ring with a mixture of surprise, uncertainty, and maybe even some amusement. Then his eyes fell on Krail and Hueler. He walked up behind them and shifted so they could see a small sword he was carrying. His eyes spoke volumes and Krail and Hueler turned pale and quickly quieted down, hurriedly moving away from Cloud. Kairi was about to go over and talk to Cloud when the referee spoke.

"The fighters have been outfitted with their bats and orbs. Now Seifer will take on . . . uh . . . say, kid, what's your name?" He looked enquiringly at the angry youth.

"Zexion, but-" the youth began, but was cut off.

"ZEXION!" the announcer shouted, "Now let's STRUGGLE!" The crowd cheered as the ref got out of the way and Seifer advanced on the stunned-looking Zexion. Kairi felt a twinge of pity for the youth who obviously hadn't even wanted to compete.

----

Cloud and Squall had given Zexion one or two lessons in self-defense, but Zexion knew that he would be no match for Seifer. Seifer looked like he had been born in this ring. He was incredibly fit and he moved with the speed and grace of a cat. Zexion barely had enough time to raise his bat before Seifer was right in front of him. The blow was parried, but it sent Zexion stumbling back. Seifer advanced slowly, laughing opening at him.

_He's playing with me!_ Zexion thought. He angrily charged at Seifer. _Nobody plays with me!_ Seifer laughed and merely sidestepped the attacking youth. Zexion felt the champion's bat thud against his back and he felt some of the orbs that were strapped on fall off. He turned to see Seifer bend down and scoop up a few. Zexion ran forward again, hoping to get him while he was collecting orbs, but Seifer was once again too fast. He leapt away at the last second and Zexion slipped on one of the orbs and felt to the ground. The crowd roared with laughter.

Zexion cursed angrily and got up. Seifer was right on top of him. Two powerful strikes sent the Cloaked Schemer reeling. _This is like my fight with Sora _Zexion thought angrily. _Only in that fight I had my book and magic . . . _ Seifer was there again and once again Zexion was sent stumbling away, loosing orbs with every step. He glanced up at the scoreboard: Seifer 131 Zexion 57. _That's it, now I'm on the offensive._ Zexion ran at the charging Seifer. He unleashed a fury of hits against Seifer. Seifer parried all but one and some of his orbs fell away.

"Nice try, chicken wuss." he taunted, dancing away from Zexion's club.

"_Chicken wuss?_ What kind of an insult is that?" Zexion said with contempt and disgust. Seifer's face darkened momentarily and Zexion felt some grim pleasure. He wouldn't win the match, but he would take his victories where he could get them. After another minute of horror, Zexion heard the bell sound and Seifer gave him one last hit before marching back into the center of the ring. Zexion glanced at the scoreboard as he got out of the ring: Seifer 119 Zexion 77. _At least I did better than that other guy._ Zexion leapt down fromt he ring and limped angrily toward a sympathetic Cloud.

----

He did better than you, Pence." Hayner commented. Pence gave him a shove and Olette and Kairi laughed. Olette's face grew serious a moment later.

"I did feel sorry for him, though." Olette said, looking back toward the ring where Zexion was gingerly getting out of the ring, "You could tell that he didn't want to fight. Krail and Heuler forced him into it. They're nasty bullies and probably wanted to see Seifer beat a new opponent for once." Kairi nodded and also looked over at Zexion. She saw him walk over to Cloud and the two of them leave. _He's with Cloud! I wonder who he is? Zexion, the announcer called him. It sounds sort of familiar, like I heard it before, but only briefly._ Kairi shook her head.

"We should probably get going toward the station." Pence said, "We'll want good seats and the trains should be good to go soon." The four friends headed toward the exit to the sandlot, where Seifer had chosen a new victim.

Some other people were heading toward the station too. A block or so ahead, Kairi caught sight of Cloud and the youth called Zexion. Zexion was limping slightly. Kairi felt another twinge of pity. _Poor guy._

"He is kind of cute." Olette said, giving Kairi a playful nudge. "The hair covering half his face makes him look mysterious." Kairi smiled.

"Yeah, he's cute." she said, "Not as cute as Sora is . . . was." Kairi felt a stab of pain in her chest. It must have showed on her face because Olette looked at her sympathetically and put a hand on her shoulder.

"He really loved you." Olette said, "He came to me for ideas about what to get you for your birthday. I could tell that he totally adored you." Kairi gave a small sob, but tried to smile at Olette. "I'm sorry," Olette said, looking ashamed of herself, "I shouldn't have said anything like that." Kairi shook her head.

"No, everything I can get to remind me of Sora is precious." she said, "The pain will pass over time. I'll be alright."

----

Zexion must have landed on his leg wrong when fighting Seifer. Every step caused a slight stab of pain. Zexion cursed angrily and Cloud looked sympathetic. Ahead of them stood the train station. Zexion could hear the sound of train engines running. Any problems with the engines must have been ironed out.

"I scared off those two kids who had volunteered you." Cloud said, trying to make Zexion feel better. Zexion pulled out and lit a cigarette.

"Maybe I was wrong." he said as he lit the end of the cigarette, "You should have brought a bigger sword." Cloud chuckled at that. They entered the station and approached the ticketmaster.

"One for the Balamb Garden." Zexion said curtly, pulling out some cash. Cloud stopped him and placed his own cash on the counter.

"Tifa would kill me if she found out I let you pay for something." Cloud said. Zexion looked at him for a second and then gave a short laugh.

"She would at that." he said, "I thought you were the intimindating one, but that must be only when you're fighting Sephiroth. You're a friggin' teddy bear any other day. Tifa's the one who scares me now." Cloud smiled. Zexion grabbed the ticket that the ticketmaster handed him and walked over to the boarding platform. Cloud walked up and then started as though remembering something. Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out a black cellphone.

"Call us sometimes." he said, giving the phone to Zexion. "Just be careful if you call Yuffie. She talks . . . a lot." Zexion flipped the phone open and studied it. Then he nodded and placed it in his bag. Cloud nodded and gripped Zexion's shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up about what happened." Zexion nodded. "And find a girl." Cloud added, as a sort of afterthought, "I've found that they can be very good . . . listeners. It may help." Then he looked somewhat embarrassed. Zexion gave another short laugh.

"Tifa told you to say that, didn't she." he said, raising an eyebrow. Cloud looked even more embarrassed and nodded. Zexion shook his head, looking amused and shook Cloud's hand. "Goodbye, Cloud."

"Goodbye, Zexion." With that, Cloud walked off.

----

As they entered the station, Kairi saw Cloud leaving. She motioned to her friends and they all ran over to him. He caught sight of them and smiled.

"Hi, Kairi." he said.

"What are you doing here, Cloud?" Kairi asked. Cloud looked back at the station. Kairi could see Zexion leaning against a post on the platform, smoking.

"I'm dropping someone off." Cloud said. Kairi looked at Zexion again.

"Who is he?" she asked, "We saw him get forced into that match with Seifer."

"He calls himself Zexion." Cloud said, "He worked for Squall about a year back. After that, he just sort of hung around Midgar so Tifa decided to send him to the Balamb Garden Academy. He wasn't consulted, of course." Kairi laughed. "In the end, he was cool with it, though."

"He wasn't very good at the Struggle match." Pence noted. Hayner gave him a push.

"Neither were you, bonehead." he said.

"He doesn't have much of an aptitude for fighting." Cloud said, "He's a loner and has some . . . issues. Maybe you guys can introduce yourselfs as friends of mine." he added hopefully. Kairi smiled and nodded.

"He looks like he doesn't have a friend in the world." Olette said sympathetically.

"He does, but he feels like he doesn't deserve them." Cloud said, "He's done some . . . things . . . that he still hasn't forgiven himself for." Kairi nodded.

"I know how that feels." she said, looking at Zexion again. Just then Cloud's cellphone rang. For the longest time Cloud had just let his voicemail answer the phone, but he seemed to have gotten over that. He flipped open the phone. Even where they stood, Kairi and her friends could make out Barret's voice. Kairi had only met this friend of Cloud's once and she had taken an immediate liking to him. He was extremely friendly and had a loud voice. Cloud winced and pulled the phone about a foot away from his ear. Barret seemed to want to get Cloud's help with some sort of monster problem at Midgar. Cloud sighed and agreed.

"I'll see you guys later, okay?" he said, "There are some problems in Midgar."

"We heard." Hayner commented. Cloud nodded ruefully and walked off, dialing another number on his cellphone. Kairi and her friends headed for the train.

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Chapter Four introduces another few other OCs. Thanks for reading :)


	4. Train Ride

Chapter Four is slightly shorter. Oh well, things'll get interesting (if they aren't already). Please R&R

Note: Thanks to Athena and Mooncry for bringing up a good point about Hollow Bastion now being called Radiant Garden. I'll try to throw in an explainer to cover this up in a later chapter, heh, heh . . .

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. The only thing I own is my crazy mind! Bwahahahahahaha! (and this laptop).

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Chapter Four -- Train Ride

Zexion stood, leaning against a lightpost and calmly smoking a cigarette. All around him the students began to mill about, waiting for the trains to start boarding. Zexion moved down the platform toward one of the trains which would fill more slowly. _No way am I going to join in the pushing and shoving just to get on a closer train._ Some other students seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Like Zexion, they appeared to be the quieter, more sullen youth. Zexion didn't pay much attention to them, however. He just leaned against another lamppost, smoking his cigarette.

One of the trains sounded it's horn and the doors to the trains opened. Zexion heard the yells and the sounds of the students all scrambling onto the closest trains. Smirking to himself, he climbed aboard a relatively empty train. There were only a few other students in this train although Zexion was sure that it wouldn't be long before this train was crowded with a bunch of immature kids too. Sighing, Zexion threw his bag in one seat and sat down, tossing his cigarette out the window. He watched it smolder for a few moments before it was trampled by the other students entering the train. Zexion watched them enter onto the train. Most of them ignored Zexion while other looked at him with uncertainty and nervousness. Zexion didn't care what they thought of him. He wasn't here to make friends.

"May I sit here?" a girl's voice voice asked. Zexion started and looked at the person with surprise.

She was very pretty with auburn hair that ran just past her shoulders and startlingly blue eyes. She was looking at Zexion with a friendly smile that somehow kept him from saying no. Zexion shifted and nodded and she sat down beside him. _Why the heck does she want to sit beside me?_

"I saw you talking to Cloud Strife." the girl said, smiling at him. Zexion stared at her in surprise. _She knows Cloud?_ The girl laughed.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, "My name's Kairi." She held out her hand. Zexion took it, completely thrown by the odd behaviour of this pretty girl. _That name sounds familiar._

"I'm Zexion." he said, "How do you know Cloud?"

"We're friends." Kairi replied, "He helped me and my friends when we needed him and I've stayed in touch." Zexion nodded. _Where have I heard that name before?_

"Kairi!" someone called out. Zexion and Kairi both looked up. Zexion saw two boys and a girl coming toward them. They threw themselves into the seat in front of Zexion and Kairi.

"Sorry," one boy said, "Our parents decided to see us off." he rolled his eyes.

"This is Hayner." Kairi said to Zexion, indicating a feisty-looking youth with messy, sandy-brown hair, "This is Pence." she indicated the stocky youth who had fought Seifer before Zexion, "and this is Olette." She indicated a pretty girl with dark brown hair. "And this is Zexion." she said to her friends, indicating the confused youth sitting beside her.

"You did better than me, facing Seifer." Pence said, holding out a hand. Zexion shook it.

"I didn't even want to fight." he muttered. Pence nodded.

"Krail and Heuler are a couple of idiots." the boy named Hayner said, pounding his fist on the back of his seat, "When I get my hands on them at school . . ." He left it hanging. Zexion turned to Kairi. The one thing had been bugging him in the back of his mind since she sat down.

"Why did you want to sit with me?" he asked. Kairi smiled at him.

"Because you look like you need a friend." she said. Zexion stared at her and then suddenly it clicked.

"Cloud put you up to this." he accused pointing a finger at Kairi. Then he gave a short laugh. Kairi laughed too.

"Yeah, he caught us on his way out of the station." she said, brightly. "He said we should introduce ourselves to you. But you do look like you need a friend." she finished. Zexion gave a small smile which Kairi returned. _This is one strange girl. She's pretty though._ Zexion frowned slightly. _Pretty? Since when have I cared if someone was pretty or not? It must be my heart._

The students had almost entirely loaded on the train. A couple of rowdy young men were sitting in the seat across from them, talking and laughing loudly. Zexion threw them an annoyed look. He hated partying. When he had been with Organization XIII, Xigbar, the organization's number two, had always been throwing parties. About half the members would join and the other half would decide how to punish Xigbar later. Zexion had always been with the latter group.

Zexion looked over at Kairi and saw her digging through her purse. As she was digging, a small picture fell out and onto the ground. Zexion reached down to pick it up and gave a gasp when he saw it. It was a picture of Kairi with a boy and Zexion knew which boy it was, having tried hard a couple years earlier to kill him. It was Sora. Suddenly, Zexion realized where he had heard Kairi's name before. Part of Marluxia's overall plan had involved using Kairi's nobody, named Namine, to mess with Sora's memories. She had been ordered to substitute memories of Kairi with memories of herself. This must have been Sora's friend, Namine's other.

"Sora . . ." he muttered, looking at the picture. Kairi looked at him.

"You knew Sora?" she asked, taking the picture and looking at it with something close to adoration.

"Knew?" Zexion asked, confused with the tense. A shadow passed across Kairi's face.

"He died a year ago?" she said, quietly. Zexion saw her eyes glistening with tears.

"Who would have wanted to kill him?" Zexion said, almost to himself, "The Organization was destroyed. _He _destroyed us . . . them." he finished quickly. Kairi obviously had missed Zexion's slip.

"He was killed fighting a renegade keyblade warrior." she said. Tears were starting to fall down her face. Zexion felt odd. _What feeling is this? It's been so long . . . pity? No, compassion._ Zexion awkwardly put a hand on Kairi's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." he said. Through her tears, Kairi gave him a smile.

"I'm sorry, too." a new voice interrupted, "I'm sorry that such a beautiful girl is crying on the train to school." Zexion and Kairi both started and looked up. A tall and handsome young man was standing in front of them, smiling down at Kairi. He looked like an all-star quarterback, but Zexion took an immediate dislike to him. There was something about him that Zexion thoroughly hated. He didn't know what it was, but one of his talents was his ability to accurately judge people based on first impressions. And his first impression was telling him that this guy was a jerk.

"Who are you?" he asked softly. The young man ignored him. He looked to be a year or so older than Zexion and was much taller. He knelt down in front of Kairi, who was staring at him in surprise. He reached up and wiped the tears away from her cheeks. Zexion felt himself grow angrier but he had no idea why this youth should bother him so much.

"My name is Dellan Haiko." he said, "You may have heard of my father, Lord Haiko, governor of Destiny Islands?" Kairi nodded mutely. Suddenly, with a slight lurch, the train started forward. Dellan looked behind him at the two loud teens. "Kroan, Ellsen, mind it _we_ steal your seat?" He finished with a brilliant smile a Kairi. Zexion felt his hand clench. _Zexion, what's wrong with you. Who cares if she sits with some loser playboy, keep it together._ The two teens grinned and moved a seat up, scaring a couple of younger students out of the seat. Dellan sat down and pulled Kairi gently over to his seat. He looked over at the Cloaked Schemer. "You don't mind." it was a statement, not a question.

"Only if she does." Zexion answered coldly. Kairi had been thrown by Dellan's sudden appearance and didn't seem to be able to argue. The handsome teen with his winning smile seemed to have entranced her. One of the two teens who had formerly occupied that seat, moved over into Zexion's seat. Zexion stared at him coldly. "Who invited you?"

"No one." the teen answered, "I'm Kroan. I know that you're Zexion. I saw you fight Seifer and you're hard to forget because of your . . . ah, interesting . . . fashion statement." The teen reached up and pulled piece of Zexion's long bangs that covered almost half of his face. Zexion knew that the young man was trying to get under Zexion's skin. Zexion knocked Kroan's hand away and laughed contemptously at the youth, who looked to be about his own age.

"You're an idiot if you think that you can attack my vanity," he said, "or the way I fought Seifer."

"Well, if you had hung around, you would have seen the match where Dellan completely destroyed Seifer." Kroan said idly, "I think the score was something like 180 to 10 or something. Seifer was massacred." Kroan finished with a laugh.

"I really don't give a shit." Zexion replied, "I didn't want to fight but for-"

"Krail and Hueler." Kroan finished, "Krail's my younger brother and you're lucky that he and his friend Hueler aren't on this section of the train. Once they take a dislike to someone, they got out of their way to make that someone's life unbearable."

"I take it that you're the same way." Zexion remarked, lighting a cigarette. He glanced over at Kairi. She was laughing at something Dellan said. The sight made Zexion's gut clench. _What's wrong with you Zexion? Control yourself. No emotions, the Cloaked Schemer has no emotions._

"I'm more subtle." Kroan said in answer to Zexion's statement.

"Sure you are." Pence said, looking over the back of the seat. "I know your family and the Mantakas are all jerks." Pence finished looking at Zexion. Kroan smiled up at Pence.

"I saw your match too." he said. Zexion noticed that his smile didn't reach his eyes, which were ice-cold. "I also notice that you voluteered yourself." Pence looked slightly defensive.

"I figured I'd give it a try." he said, "I knew that I wasn't going to win."

"I did too." Kroan responded. Pence's face reddened.

"Don't worry about it, Pence." Zexion said, "You're just playing right into his hands. I never saw _you_ fight." Zexion added, looking at Kroan with the penetrating stare that he had perfected during his time in Castle Oblivion. No one could hold his gaze for long and sure enough, Kroan's eyes dropped. He looked angry with himself and Zexion knew that he was silently berating himself for being the first to look away. When he looked back up, though, he was smiled again, although his eyes remained cold.

"There was no point." Kroan answered, "After Dellan beat Seifer, there was no reason for me to compete. Why would I fight my best friend?" Zexion made a sound that indicated he didn't believe Kroan. Kroan's face darkened and Zexion attacked further.

"Strange." he said, idly exhaling some smoke out of the partially open window, "The ringleader of your little gang-" he said _gang _with dripping contempt, "-was the first to fight Seifer. Usually they let their cronies soften the challenge up first." Kroan was smiled but his eyes told Zexion that Kroan was incensed.

"You're a mouthy freak aren't you." he said with a laugh. Zexion gave a small smile.

"I've practiced." he said, "Maybe I'll give you and you're loser friends some lessons sometime. With practice, you might be able to hold my gaze for a full _seven_ seconds." Pence, who had been listening to the conversation, laughed. Kroan could no longer keep up the facade. His smile vanished and he glowered at Zexion.

"Be careful, punk." he hissed, "You've made some dangerous enemies."

"I'm terrified." Zexion replied sarcastically, "Now get out of my seat." Kroan's smile was back in place again as he withdrew. Zexion saw him go over and join his friend, the one called Ellsen. The two put their heads together, no doubt discussing the coversation Kroan had with Zexion. Zexion, however, didn't care. He took another whiff of his cigarette. Pence glared after them.

"Those two are going to try and make your life hell, you know." he said. Zexion nodded. He glanced over at Kairi. She was still talking to Dellan. Zexion felt his fist clenching again, but stopped when he realized what he was doing. _Easy, Zexion. Who cares if she likes some moron. _

Kroan and Ellsen continued to whisper to each other, casting glances over at Zexion that he didn't like the look of. He sighed. It didn't look like he would get away from these two unless he gave them a reason to respect him. Unfortunately, he didn't think he would stand a chance against those two in a fistfight. Silently, he cursed the fact that the powers he had had as a nobody seemed to have left him. _Having a heart seems to be causing me more trouble than good. I should have just stayed a nobody and let that little girl have the heart. She would make better use of it than I will. Too late now though. She's a dusk, probably destroyed by some heartless and I'm a miserable teenager with a heart I don't know what to do with. _Zexion cursed again, both his hands clenching into fists.

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I'm not one hundred percent sure how Chapter five will go, but it will start with Kairi. Thanks for reviewing!


	5. An Unexpected Reunion

Here's Chapter Five. R&R, please!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts :(

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Chapter Five -- An Unexpected Reunion

"I need to go and take care of something." Dellan said to Kairi as they got down from the train upon arrival, "I'll see you later and give you a tour of the school." He flashed her another brilliant smile and walked off to where a couple of his friends were waiting. Kairi could see several other girls watching him as he crossed the yard. They were whispering and giggling to each other. Dellan was clearly a major heart throb in the Balamb Academy.

Kairi walked toward the main building, thinking about Dellan. He was so kind and considerate. Everything he had said seemed to be just what she had needed to hear. A couple hours with him and Kairi was feeling better than she had for a long time. Over those two hours, she had told him about Sora and how he had died. Dellan seemed to be able to bring out her deepest secrets and things she never discussed with anybody else. He had listened sympathetically and after she had finished, everything he had said had made her feel better. _It was like he could read my mind! He knew exactly what I needed to hear. He was so kind!_ Kairi walked into the main building, still entranced with Dellan Haiko.

The building was filled with other students who were milling about, looking for their dorms. The biggest concentration of students was in front of a large bulletin board with a bunch of papers tacked to it. Kairi made her way over to the board as Hayner, Pence, and Olette caught up with her. Pence was looking slightly put out about something and kept throwing dark looks behind him.

"Which buildings are we in?" Hayner asked, trying to look over the heads of some of the students. After about half an hour of working their way up, the four managed to get to the board.

"Kairi, we're both in Garnett House!" Olette said, excitedly, grabbing both of Kairi's hands. Kairi smiled back, just as excited.

"Pence and I are in Zidane House." Hayner said. Pence looked up at the sheet.

"Where is Zexion staying." he asked. Kairi gave a bit of a start. _Zexion. I had forgotten all about him._ She looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"He's in Zidane House, too." Hayner said. The next moment he gave a groan. "Ahhh, so are Krail and Hueler!"

"At least Kroan and Ellsen aren't." Pence said, "Neither is Dellan. They're all in Steiner House. At least they'll be out of our hair. Steiner House is on the other side of the campus and I don't think that they're taking any of our courses. Well, except for military. Maybe, I can injure Kroan and make it look like an accident . . . " Pence's eyes took on a faraway look as he pondered the various ways that he could bang up Kroan without paying the penalties.

"Where did Zexion go?" Kairi asked, still looking around for the blue-haired youth. When Dellan had taken her over to his seat, she had forgotten all about him. Now she felt slightly bad about it. _He was quiet and enigmatic, but he was nice to me._ Pence looked around.

"I'll be Krail and Hueler caught up to him." Hayner said, "I should have kept my eye on him. He'll be trashed without me to protect him from those losers! C'mon Pence, let's try and find him." With that, Hayner and Pence took off to try and find Zexion, whom Hayner was convinced had run into Krail and Hueler.

Kairi and Olette also left the room and walked back out into the hall. Kairi caught sight of Dellan coming toward them. His face broke into a cheerful smile when he saw Kairi. He came up and stopped in front of them.

"So," he said, "what houses are you in?"

"We're both in Garnett." Kairi answered, beaming up at Dellan. Dellan's grin grew wider.

"Perfect!" he said, "I'm in Steiner House and it's right next door to Garnett. I'll be able to keep an eye on you and make sure that you stay out of trouble." Kairi laughed, playfully punching Dellan in the arm. The handsome youth laughed and backed away from her fist. "I thought you wanted a tour?" he continued, "How can I give you a tour if you're assaulting me?" Kairi laughed again.

"Lead on." she said, "Show me everything."

----

Zexion dismounted from the train right behind Kairi and Dellan. He watched as Dellan whispered something to her and left. Kairi meanwhile, headed for the main office building. Hayner, Pence, and Olette were talking with some people they had recognized. Zexion stood their, struggling with himself. _Why do I let Kairi affect me like this? Why should I care if she likes Dellan. I know the guy's a creep. _Zexion started walking forward, trying to decide whether to catch up to Kairi or not. _This was Cloud's idea. I should never have let Kairi sit with me. Look at yourself Zexion, you're a mess. Why on earth are you so attracted to her._ Zexion knew the answer, though. He was attracted to her because she was everything that had ever been missing from his existence as Ienzo and his non-existence as Zexion. Beauty, kindness, caring . . . neither Ienzo nor Zexion had any experience with these. Ienzo had been too shy to form any bonds and when Zexion had been formed, all memories of these sorts of feelings had been felt to be irrelevant and had been discarded. Now that he was whole again, Zexion was without any experience with these sorts of emotions. The result was that the part of him that was still the nobody, screamed at him that this was unnatural and unbecoming for the Cloaked Schemer. The part that was Ienzo the scientist had no defense against this, but for some strange reason, could keep the nobody part from rejecting Kairi altogether to her face.

The eighteen-year-old looked up at Kairi as she walked toward the building. She was beautiful and her every movement was graceful. Zexion suddenly felt the strong desire to touch her auburn locks and feel her hand in his. It took him almost a minute to realize what he was thinking. With a curse, he headed toward the office building, hoping to find out where he was staying. He hadn't gone three paces, however, when he felt a strong hand grab his shoulder.

"Going somewhere, freak?" Kroan asked. Ellsen stood behind him, grinning. Zexion had had enough. With no warning, he pulled back and punched Kroan in the face as hard as he possibly could. The punch turned out to be harder than Zexion had thought it would be. Kroan gave a yell and his hands flew up to his now bleeding nose. Ellsen swore and grabbed both of Zexion's arms, pinning them behind the youth, who was now spitting every curse and swear word he could think of at the two young men. _Those freakin' dirtbags could not have picked a worse time! _Kroan straightened and Zexion saw with satisfaction that Kroan's nose looked broken. Blood was pouring out of both nostrils and the look on Kroan's face was one of rage. Kroan walked up and punched Zexion. Zexion felt his head reel and could feel his one visible eye swelling already.

"This is not a good place, Kroan." Ellsen said, looking around, "Let's get this loser to the "Initiation Chamber". Dellan will want to start the proceedings." Kroan nodded then he walked up and grabbed a groggy Zexion by the front of his shirt.

"You're stay at the academy was already going to suck." Kroan spat, "But now I'm going to personally make it downright hellish!" With that, Kroan and Ellsen dragged Zexion to a building off to the side of the main office building. Zexion could see that it was a group of washrooms.

"Inside, freak." Kroan said, throwing Zexion through into the washroom. The first thing Zexion saw was Krail Mantaka. Krail grabbed him, grinning.

"Having fun at school yet?" Krail asked, laughing at Zexion's black eye. Then he looked up and saw he brother using paper towels to stop his bleeding nose. His eyes narrowed. "This guy do that to you?" Kroan swore angrily and nodded. Krail looked back at Zexion and smiled, shaking his head. "You've got some fire in your belly." With that, Krail brought his knee up into Zexion's groin. Zexion gasped and doubled up.

"That's enough." a familiar voice said. Zexion forced himself to look up into the face of Dellan Haiko. Dellan smiled at him. "You've put up more of a fight than any of the other "initiates" and your ceremony hasn't even started yet." Dellan grabbed Zexion by the shirt and threw him toward the back of the washroom, in between the cubicles and sinks. Zexion now noticed that he was not the only victim. Other youths were sprawled around the washrooms, each bearing different signs of their "initiation" as Dellan put it. They all seemed to be the quieter type of student, Zexion's type of student, incapable of really defending themselves. Zexion could see Hueler forcing one students head into a toilet. Every time the student's head came up, he would beg for mercy, but Hueler only laughed and forced his head in the toilet again. Zexion groaned. If this is how they treated the passive students, how were they going to deal with him? _I broke Kroan's friggin' nose!_

Zexion's initiation was nasty. He was pushed around endlessly, banging into walls and partitions. Dellan and Kroan forced his head into a toilet, a "classic", he was told. They also forced soap into his mouth and a dozen other things, each one seeming to be worse than the last. The whole process took close to half an hour. Finally, they threw him into an empty cubicle. Dellan backed up and surveyed the whole washroom. Any student who had tried to escape while Dellan was tormenting Zexion, had met Krail and Hueler at the door. Most of the students were curled up in cubicles or on the floor, trying not to attract the attention of Dellan or any of his cronies.

"This is to remind you that this school has been made for only _select_ students." Dellan said to the room at large, "Students such as yourselves have no great future at Balamb. Your only purpose in this school is to serve us! You are our "personal assistants" and if you think going to the teachers will help, don't be stupid. No teacher will believe worthless scumbags rather than top students. And if you decide to go to the teacher anyway, what we do to you then will make this look like a freakin' picnic. And we won't only deal with you, but with all your friends."

"In short," Ellsen said, coming up next to Dellan, "if one of you decides to be stupid, you'll _all_ pay the price. So try to keep your more rebellious friends in line." He finished this statement staring straight at Zexion. "Oh, and let your fellow students know about this." he continued, "You lot were chosen to be the example for the others." With that, Dellan and his friends left, laughing.

Zexion stayed in the cubicle he was laying in for several more minutes. He just lay there and let the pain of various bruises subside. After a couple minutes and with some angry curses, he slowly got up and stepped out of the cubicle. His tattered leather jacket was laying on one of the sinks. Zexion walked over and grabbed it, ripping off the bra that Kroan had forced on him. With one glance, he saw that one of them had taken his cigarettes. He let out another angry curse.

The other students were also slowly getting up. Most of them were rather small and runty, like Zexion. A couple however, were tall and relatively well-built. After several minutes, talk began to break out among them.

"What are we going to do?"

"Do? We have to keep Dellan happy! You heard him, next time it will be worse."

"But it's only Dellan and those other four. We outnumber them."

"I wouldn't count on it. This is the mentality of the whole school. The school is split between the popular students and the unpopular students. Dellan is probably the head of the popular group. All the unpopular students, or students Dellan doesn't like, have no choice but to do whatever Dellan and his friends say."

"We can fight back . . ."

"And what? Get our tails kicked by them. Maybe you missed the fact that these guys are totally fit. They're probably top students in the military classes. Let's just keep our heads down while we're here and hope nobody notices us."

"Yeah, _all_ of us need to comply." one student said, looking at Zexion, "You were the one who hit Kroan, right?" Zexion, who had been drying his face and hair after the "toilet treatment" and only half-listening to the conversation around him, looked up in surprise. "You were the one who broke Kroan's nose, right?" the student repeated. Zexion slowly nodded. "Don't do it again." the student snapped, pointing a finger at Zexion, "If you do, we'll all pay for it." Zexion said nothing but went back to drying his hair.

"Didn't you hear him." another student asked, sounding slightly panicky, "We don't want you to do anything heroic or anything, just keep your head down and don't make Kroan, or any of them, angry again."

"Fine." Zexion said in his usual emotionless voice. The students looked somewhat relieved. Obviously they had worried that Zexion would be the one to try and fight back, who would refuse to back down. Slowly, the students left the washroom, some wincing as they walked, others limping, and still others sopping wet. Zexion also began to make his way to the door of the washroom, muttering curses. His ears caught the sound of a faint whimpering coming from one of the cubicles. As Zexion passed, he glanced in with half a mind to tell them to suck it up.

Who he saw made him stop in his tracks.

He had not known much about this person as they had seldom done anything as a team and both worked in different locations. Their characters were also completely different from each others. Zexion did not know how this person could be here, he had thought that this person was dead. But there was no mistaking the short brown spiky hair that belonged to Demyx, Organization XIII's Number Nine.

"Demyx?" Zexion asked in disbelief. Demyx stopped whimpering and raised his head. He was a mess. He was bleeding from a bloody nose and cut lip and one of his eyes was swollen shut. The other eye, however, widened in surprise.

"Zexion?" He asked, sniffing and wiping his bleeding nose. Zexion nodded, still shocked.

"What are you doing here, Demyx?" Zexion asked, going over and helping the taller youth to his feet.

"I was going to school." Demyx said, looking around and gingerly feeling his swollen eye, "But I don't think I'll make it through frosh week!" He looked at Zexion. "I thought you were . . . dead, though. Axel told us that he had killed you."

"That moron." Zexion muttered, "The Riku replica _nearly_ killed me, but I managed to escape."_ Axel always did like to take all the credit._ "Where is that double-crossing maniac anyway?"

"Dead." Demyx said, "He betrayed the Organization and helped the keyblade warrior, Sora. I had to do some checking around to find out, but apparently the rumour is that Axel destroyed himself to save Sora in the netherworld between worlds. I don't know all the details. We were a pretty secretive group after all." Zexion nodded.

"I heard that the Organization was destroyed by Sora." he said, "What happened to you?"

"I was beaten by Sora in Hollow Bastion," Demyx said, "or is it called Radiant Garden again?" Demyx had been fond of Radiant Garden when Axel had brought him there for some training a few years earlier, before the rebellion Zexion had helped create split the Organization.

"They haven't officially changed the name yet, I don't think." Zexion said, brushing this aside, more interested in how Demyx had survived, "If he beat you, how come your still here?"

"As I lay there, fading," Demyx said, "some of those knight-heartless came along. I killed them and used their energy to stay strong enough to get back to Hollow Bastion. In town this serious-looking man with long, silver hair and one wing helped me recover. In return, all he wanted was information about Sora and his keyblade. It seemed to interest him for some reason."

"Sephiroth." Zexion said, recognizing Cloud's archenemy.

"After that, I went to return to the World That Never Was." Demyx continued, "When I arrived, Kingdom Hearts had a huge hole in it and hearts were falling from the sky! I managed to grab one and now I have a heart." Demyx finished proudly. Then he grew curious. "What about you. Are you still a nobody?" Zexion shook his head.

"I was there as well." he replied, somewhat evasively, "I also acquired a heart, although it seems to be giving me more trouble than it's worth." Demyx looked surprised.

"I think having a heart is great." he said enthusiastically. Zexion allowed himself a small smile. _Even as a nobody, Demyx was more excitable than anyone else. Sometimes I wonder if he really was a nobody._

"So after you picked up a heart, you decided to go to school?" Zexion asked. Demyx shook his head.

"First I tried to find out what had happed to the rest of the Organization." he said, "I thought that they would be down getting hearts too. That was the Organization's purpose wasn't it? It took a while but I found out that Sora had beaten Xaldin and Luxord and even Saix! Saix, Zexion! I didn't think anybody could kill him! And then Sora destroyed the Superior!" Demyx finished. Zexion had been checking names off mentally, trying to find out if all the Organization was accounted for.

"What about Xigbar?" Zexion asked. Everyone was accounted for but him. Demyx opened his mouth to respond but then frowned.

"I couldn't find anything on Xigbar." Demyx said, "I even went to that graveyard room I forget the name of in the World That Never Was, but I couldn't find anything. All of the lights in the portal stones were out, including yours and mine, Zexion. Xigbar's was too. Something must have gone wrong in that room, the stones must be broken." Zexion shook his head. _Those portals can't just break . . . _

"So what happened then?" he asked.

"Well, since the Organization was destroyed, I decided that I could go to college like a normal person, now that I have a heart! So I . . . uh . . . took some munny from the Organization vault and entered this school. My major is music!"

"What? You still have your guitar-thing." Zexion asked, surprised. Demyx looked mournful.

"No, after I got a heart, I lost my powers _and_ my sitar." he said, "But I used some of the Organization's munny to buy an electric guitar." Demyx looked worriedly at Zexion as though afraid that the higher-ranking Organization member would berate him for stealing the Organization's funds." Zexion gave another small, mocking half-smile and shook his head.

"Organization XIII doesn't exist anymore, Demyx." he said, "I'm not your boss anymore and I don't care if you take the munny in the vaults. After all, we seem to have achieved our overall objective." Zexion finished, pointing at his heart. Demyx smiled.

"Yeah, the Organization was successful!" he said, punching a hand in the air. Zexion smiled again and went to retrieve his bag. _Demyx is the same as ever. _

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So now Demyx is in the picture! (I couldn't make a KH fanfic without him!) As always, thanks for reading and please review.


	6. Balamb Garden Academy

Here's Chapter Six.

Disclaimer: Gravenwrath does not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasies I-XII, or anything of any particular value :(

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Chapter Six -- Balamb Garden Academy

"This used to be a military academy," Dellan said, as he led Kairi and Olette on a tour of the school, "but it was converted into more of an academic centre after an incident a few years back with some sorceress or something." The tall youth led Kairi and Olette toward a couple of older-looking buildings. "Don't be fooled by how they look on the outside." Dellan said as they approached, "Garnet and Steiner Houses just had some interior work done so the inside is much better."

Both buildings looked almost identical, except for the large signs out front of each building that read Garnet and Steiner. There were a lot of students hanging around the front of both buildings and and many called out greetings to Dellan as he passed. Kairi could see that Dellan was extremely popular and well-known by all the students in the school. Dellan waved back at the ones who greeted him as he led Kairi and Olette to Garnet House.

"Here's Garnet House." Dellan said as he opened the door. Kairi and Olette each gave a small gasp as they stepped into the interior. What Dellan had said about some interior work having been done was clearly an understatement. Everything was brand new with the latest technology available. The lobby was large with gleaming floors and fresh, healthy plants placed around to give the room splashes of colour. There were some large stairs leading up and beside them, a lift to the higher levels. There were other students walking around and going about their business. It was plain which students were the new ones because they were the ones looking around them with disbelief at the fancy and high-tech house they had been placed in.

"This is unbelievable." Kairi said in an awed voice. Dellan grinned and led them through a set of double doors into a common room. The room had several large fireplaces, non of which were burning yet but would obviously provide a great deal of heat during the winter months. In front of these fireplaces were numerous large and comfy-looking couches and chairs. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling over a polished table. Around the common room was a balcony. Two sets of stairs led up to the balcony and evenly spaced doors opened up to what Kairi was sure were bedrooms. Olette walked over and flung herself onto a couch.

"These couches are sooo comfy." she said in delight, "I could fall asleep here and not wake up for hours!"

"If you think that the couches are nice," Dellan said, "wait until you see your beds." Dellan led them up one of the sets of stairs and into one of the doors on the balcony. Kairi and Olette found themselves in a sort of antechamber. A staircase wound upward throught the room and onto the higher levels. There were also four doors and Kairi could see beds in the rooms beyond. Squeals of delight issued from some of the doors as other new girls found their beds. Dellan led Kairi and Olette up the staircase in the antechamber and through several levels until they reached a door marked _Level Six_. Dellan led them through and down a fancy hallway until they reached a door marked with the names _Kairi Takari _and _Olette Wilson_ on the door. Two other names were also there: _Fuu Vanderwell_ and _Dina Arth_.

"How did you know where our room was?" Kairi asked. Dellan held up a cellphone.

"I have my sources." he replied, grinning mysteriously.

"Fuu . . . " Olette said with recognition plain in her voice. Dellan and Kairi looked at her. "She's a member of Seifer's gang from Twilight Town. If she's here, then Seifer must be here . . ." Olette trailed off. Dellan's face darkened.

"You mean that mouthy twerp I beat in a struggle match?" he asked, "I didn't know that he was coming . . . " he trailed off looking thoughtful, "I'll need to keep an eye one him." Kairi laughed.

"I thought you had your sources." she said playfully, "Why didn't they let you know about Seifer coming to Balamb." Dellan looked at her and laughed.

"I only use my sources for things at interest me." he said, "Like you." Kairi blushed under the handsome youth's gaze. "Of course," he continued, "now Seifer interests me, so naturally I'll keep an eye on him as well." With that, Dellan opened the door. Kairi and Olette both looked in and gave sqeals of delight and ran in.

It was a large room with four four-poster beds. Each bed was accompanied by a large dresser and bedside table both polished enough to shine. A chandelier, smaller than the one in the common room hung from the center of the room. Kairi and Olette both found their beds and flung themselves on them, enjoying the extremely soft and comfy feel of the bed. Dellan laughed at them. Finally, they both sat up and looked at Dellan.

"This is amazing!" Kairi said. Then she noticed one other person in the room. The other girl was sitting on another bed and reading from a magazine. She paid absolutely no attention to any of them and only glaced up for a second before returning to her magazine.

"That's Fuu." Olette said quietly. Dellan crossed over to where she sat, still reading her magazine.

"You're Fuu Vanderwell?" he asked. Fuu looked up and slowly nodded. "I want to to give a message to Seifer for me." Dellan continued, "Tell him not to cause any trouble while he's here. Balamb doesn't need a "disciplinary committee" understand." Fuu stared at him for a moment, only one of her eyes visible, the other concealed by a veil of blue hair.

"Fine." she responded in a voice devoid of all emotion. Dellan nodded and walked back over to Olette and Kairi.

"Hopefully, Seifer will get the message and decide to keep a low profile." he said, "Troublemakers like him aren't welcome in Balamb." Kairi and Olette nodded. Kairi turned to Olette.

"I'm going to go and find a place to eat." she said, "Did you want to come?" Olette shook her head.

"I'm going to stay and unpack." she said. Kairi glanced at Fuu, who was still reading on her bed.

"Are you sure you want to stay alone with her?" Kairi asked quietly. Olette looked at Fuu and nodded.

"Fuu only does what Seifer tells her." Olette said, lowering her voice so that Fuu wouldn't hear, "I think Fuu has some sort of weird crush on him. She won't try to start any trouble. Even when Seifer is around, she's extemely antisocial." Kairi nodded and turned to Dellan.

"Why don't you give me a tour of the cafeteria?" she asked. Dellan laughed.

Will do." he said.

Dellan led Kairi out of Garnet House and toward the actual school that was placed in the center of the school grounds. The building was massive, twelve stories high, and had a fancy look to it, almost like a mansion would look. Dellan told Kairi that the building had undergone a lot of maintenence ever since the problems some eight years earlier. It hardly looked like it once did but looked more like a mansion/school with some castle elements thrown in. Dellan claimed that the designer had was a decendant of the architect who had designed the castle of King Mickey. Kairi could definitely see some similarities.

The inside, however, was totally moderized. The cafeteria was a long room with a high ceiling. There were hundreds of tables arranged in numerous rows. Like everywhere else, the cafeteria had large groups of students in it. It was already apparent that there had been more than one food fight since the trains had arrived. Even as Dellan and Kairi walked in, a hamburger whizzed overhead, followed closely by what looked like a large pizza. Dellan led Kairi over to a table away from the food fight contestants and told her to sit there while he grabbed some food. He motioned and Kairi saw Kroan and a girl that she didn't recognize come over.

"Kairi, this is Kroan and his girlfriend, Dina." Dellan said, "Dina is one of your roommates." Dina was amazingly beautiful and she flashed Kairi a dazzling smile. Kroan also grinned and sat down. Kairi noticed that his nose looked broken and had a bandaid on it. "Kroan, Dina, keep Kairi company while I grab some food." With that, Dellan headed toward the counter, where some flustered looking cafeteria ladies were trying to fill the orders of some thirty overly-hyper students.

"How do you like BGA so far." Kroan asked. Kairi blinked.

"BGA?" she asked.

"Balamb Garden Academy." Kroan said, "It's changed a lot over the last five years or so. It used to just be called Balamb Garden. I think the changes are an improvement. It used to be exclusively a military academy. Now, military is just a subject. It's better this way because now we get more babes!" Dina and Kairi laughed. _Dellan and his friends are so easygoing. They make me feel right at home. They kind of remind me of Sora . . . _

"Don't worry about Kroan." Dina said to Kairi, "I can keep him in line." Kroan nodded with a mock serious expression.

"Dina know what is good for me." he said in a monotone, zombie-like voice. Then he laughed and kissed Dina on her cheek. She playfully pushed him away and Kroan put on an injured face. Kairi laughed at their antics. "You should try out for one of the sports." Kroan continued, now looking thoughtful, "We have tons, even a blitzball arena!"

"Now don't get her on a blitzball team." Dellan said as he walked up, "Our team will never win another game if you do. That wouldn't be good for the morale of the team." He wagged a finger at Kroan as he sat down. A flying pack of hash browns just narrowly missed his head. Kroan groaned.

"I'm going to tell my stupid brother and his maniac friends to chill." he said, getting up. Dina rose with him.

"I'll go with you." she said. "Bye, Dellan, Kairi. Oh, and Kairi, I look forward to being your roommate." With another dazzling smile, she followed Kroan as he headed toward Krail, who was howling with laughter at Hueler, who was picking ketchup-soaked french fries off his shirt with a disgusted expression on his face. Dellan shook his head.

"They're a year under us, but their as hyper and immature as five-year olds." he said, ruefully. He placed some food on the table and he and Kairi began to eat. Kairi was surprised at the quality of the food. The cafeteria at her old high school had prided itself on its ability to make six hundred students lose their appetites at once. The food at this cafeteria was actually good, however. The salads were fresh and the hamburgers were cooked just right.

"I think I'm going to like it here." Kairi said as she ate. Dellan nodded.

"Most students are wary of the food at first." he said, "But soon they learn otherwise. We have some of the best cooks around making food here."

"Yeah, the food's good." Kairi said, "But what I really meant was that I like everything about the school. Especially students like you. You and your friends make me feel at home. I was worried that I wouldn't fit in here."

"That worry is gone now, huh?" Dellan said, "How could someone as pretty and sociable as you not fit in anywhere?" Kairi blushed and Dellan continued. "There are lots of girls at this school. Most are just hyper teenagers, others are so full of themselves it's a wonder that they haven't exploded. But there are a select few "roses" around like you, Kairi." Kairi blushed deeper at this description of her. "It's people like you that brighten this place up from the stuffy rich-kid school that most people stereotype Balamb as. It's those "roses" that I want to protect from the . . . ahh . . . let's just say "troublesome" . . . students that are unfortunately all too common that schools like this. Students who think that their money is some sort of license to do what they please with anyone they want." Kairi nodded. Dellan put his hand on her shoulder and looked deep into Kairi's eyes. Kairi felt herself mesmerized by him. She couldn't believe how handsome and kind he was. _He's like some sort of guardian angel!_ It was this impression of him that Kairi was becoming infatuated with. She reached up and touched his hand on her shoulder. Dellan smiled at her.

"Let me protect you." he said.

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Whew! That was a hard chapter to write. This was probably my worst chapter as well. The Zexion chapters are a lot easier so don't be surprised if the story centers more around Zexion than Kairi. Kairi will still be in the story! I still plan on eventually having Zexion and Kairi pair up.

I had to make up some last names in this chapter. Please let me know if I screwed up Kairi's or Olette's or Fuu's last names (if they even have "official" last names. Dina Arth is my own character.)

Thanks for reading :) I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can.


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